Iraq The Model Blogger Says Sane Iraqis Celebrate Zarqawi's Death

Maybe there is hope for the Middle East. On the day that President George W. Bush made his surprise visit to Iraq, Mohammed Fahdil, who with his brother, Omar, run the Baghdad-based, award-winning Iraq the Model Blog, wrote this piece for the Wall Street Journal, entitled "A Demon's Demise: Hamas mourns Zarqawi. In Iraq, the sane are celebrating." If, as Mr. Fahdil insists is happening, the average Iraqi on the street (whether Shiite, Sunni or Kurd) is beginning to realize that Islamic fanatic groups such as Hamas are not friends of Iraq, one may justifiably feel some optimism that Iraq may actually emerge as the first democratic Arab Islamic nation. However, Mr. Fahdil also makes the sobering observation that, while all Iraqi commentators celebrated Zarqawi's demise, 90% of all non-Iraqi Arab commentators portrayed the murderous villain as a martyr.

To end on an optimistic note, here is a link to a transcript of President Bush's remarks today to U.S. troops in Baghdad.